


Sit by the Fire and Remember

by PerditaFound



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Lonliness, Musing, me just thinking about how Sad link might be and being emo about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:22:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24516856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerditaFound/pseuds/PerditaFound
Summary: Link has a few moments by himself before bed, and thinks about where he's been and his next steps.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Sit by the Fire and Remember

As they (Link? The name feels right) slowly build a campfire for the night, they think about how far they’ve come.

Waking up in a weird...altar? Tablet? Bed? (definitely not comfortable enough to be a bed) had been new. For some reason, they felt like it was the most restful sleep they had had in years. A hundred, to be precise, if everyone they had met was to be believed. 

And oh, the people they had met. First the kindly old man, whose warm fire was only matched by the warmth of his smile. A wink, a statement that clearly had some deeper meaning under the surface… they supposed it was no surprise there was something more to him. 

Then, the old woman who swore she knew him from long ago. Could that be true? Seeing her didn’t unlock anything in his mind, and even now he has trouble remembering her name. But he doesn’t see why she would lie about knowing him. And she was helpful enough to give him some information on who he was, what had happened, and what he could do about it. 

And now...now what? Before, it had been simple. Get out of the cave, follow the man, find the village. But now the objectives were a bit more esoteric, even with that woman’s guidance. Save the kingdom? Remember the past?

Remember. ...

Link remembers the taste of warm apple and pastry; not the slightly-charred dish they threw together over a campfire a day ago, but something made with more care and expertise. They remember the quickest way to ride from Castle Town to Kakariko Village, and the prettiest way, and that they always chose the second. They remember the agony of their first serious injury after a swordfight, the humiliation of being pushed to the dirt in front of their peers stinging more than the broken arm. 

But what frustrates Link most is what refuses to come to memory’s surface: the people. When he tries to remember, he sees a girl in white looking back at him and he knows he has to protect her. But did he just have this one girl? Where were his parents, his friends, his mentors? Who did he write letters to back home, who did he learn to fight from, who taught him the stories of the constellations? Maybe its better this way, not knowing about them. They all are dead now, either by Ganon’s cruel hand or time’s fair one. 

At first Link assumed they were the only person left in this natural world; a lonely fate, but one that made sense. Then Link found out the old man was a ghost, and Link assumed all the ghosts of his past would haunt him as he journeyed and eventually joined them 100 years late. Again: sad in its own way, but with a sense of justice that made absolute sense. But this? Being in a world of people who care about and know each other so well after knowing such tragedy, who cling to each other and follow each other from birth to death. There are families growing up amid one another, leaders who know the names of everyone in their own village. Even the fellow travelers Link passes on the road have a home they will return to at the end of the day, a traveling companion to watch out for them.

And what does that make Link in this world? An interloper, an observer. If the whole heir of Hyrule thing doesn’t work out, he’s pretty sure he could become the most sought-after storyteller in all of Hyrule based on the things he’s seen in these two days alone. Link can sneak up on people, hear an entire conversation, and leave with the people they listened in on none the wiser. Link could pass into town at night, break their pots, steal their apples, and be gone before anyone noticed more than the swish of a cloak. Link has become a ghost in Hyrule. Will they disappear and vanish into the morning mist once this grand purpose is complete? Link always did like sunrise, so that wouldn’t be the worst way to go. 

And like any good ghost, Link is tasked with haunting the same places they went when they were alive. Link only sees flickers of them, and can’t be certain that they look anything like they did before that long sleep, but they still call to Link. ‘Come back, Link’ they say. ‘Come back to us, go back and understand how it all happened, how you became a shade of what you once were’.

Because how could Link be anything else? The Hero of Hyrule has been a name on many an awed villager’s lips, able to wield the Sword that Seals the Darkness and banish any evil that threatens. Today, Link could barely wield a stick against some bees. Maybe the ghost and the old lady have the wrong person, and hes just a nobody that got stuck in a cave.

Looking up at the sky, Link realized it must be close to 2 am. During the day, its easier to dispel wandering thoughts and stick to necessary ones: “Climb the mountain. Fight the blob. Jump. Run.” Sleep. And tomorrow, the same choice that Link has been mulling over all evening: Save the kingdom? Or try to remember?

Let the kingdom wait one more day, Link decides. His memories are the only family he has left, and they are calling him home.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic literally ever, please be kind (but I will accept constructive criticism lol). Y'all ever just think about how alone Link must feel as he travels this empty world? And he regains some memories, but never those of where he came from grew up....poor kid.


End file.
